You Don't Have to Be Overly Thin to Have an Eating Disorder
There is a common belief that in order to have an eating disorder you must also be very thin. There is also a common belief that even if someone does have an eating disorder, there is no need to worry about it unless you are very thin.
The difference between having a diagnosis (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, etc) and not having a diagnosis is simply that a provider has not given you one. And just because you don’t have a diagnosis does not mean you don’t deserve support to help you out of it.
The ‘high’ of the developing eating disorder
The development of an eating disorder can take many different forms. Yet, no matter what form it takes, the importance of catching it early is incredibly important. It can be tricky to catch and eating disorder in it’s early stages because that is typically when the individual begins experiencing positive reinforcement from other people. They begin to get compliments from the people around them, observe the number on the scale drop, and feel like they have control over something in their life. It is also very common in early stages for individuals to feel like they are finally good at something in their life.
This is the high stage of an eating disorder and typically lasts around 6 months (can be shorter, can be longer). During this stage individual gets addicted to the high. They get addicted to the feeling of skipping that next meal or setting a target weight goal that would have seemed impossible before adopting the disordered eating habits. Following this stage, as I refer to as the ‘high,’ an individuals body can no longer take it and begins to break down. This is when the eating disorder manifests as anxiety, depression, binges, and other health complications. I put together a list of seven signs of an eating disorder:
Thinking about food constantly
Worries that you will gain weight from one meal
Fear of certain foods
Setting specific times that you are allowed to eat
Associating the feeling of hunger as a good feeling
Continually dropping your ‘target weight’ lower and lower
Weighing yourself consistently and basing what you are allowed to eat off of that number
Eating disorders, or disordered eating, can be incredibly confusing. The mind finds ways to hear the things that it wants to hear and disregard the rest. The mind can also tell you that your eating disorder will be different and you will have the power to stop it when you decide to stop it. This is part of the dysfunction.
Seek the help of a trained professional.
As I mentioned earlier, the ‘high’ of the eating disorder, is also the stage where you have the ability to halt your recovery in it’s early stages. By halting an eating disorder in its early stages you can minimize the time it takes to grow out of the disordered eating behavior.
Eating disorders are far more complicated than just the desire to be thin
This understanding is essential on the path towards eating disorder recovery. Eating disorders develop for more complex reasons than just wanting to be thin. Despite what the ED stigma tells us, it is not your fault that you have an eating disorder but it is your responsibility to seek out treatment and begin your recovery towards a more joyful life.
Reach out for support with eating disorder treatment
If you are interested in learning more about how I work with individuals through eating disorder treatment, please feel free to read more here or reach out to set up a free 20 minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!
-Ellie